Duluth Compliance Check Results- 4th Quarter

According to the 2014 Gwinnett Coalition Youth Health Survey, 19% of Gwinnett High School Students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days.

Research shows that alcohol has serious effects on teens, especially on their developing brains. Alcohol use interrupts normal brain “wiring” by slowing down brain activity and development. The brain hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory) can be 10% smaller in underage drinkers. Teens who drink are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as stealing, skipping school, beating up someone, and/or misusing other drugs.

That’s why GUIDE makes it a priority to keep teens safe by reducing and preventing underage drinking in Gwinnett County.

Thanks to our partnership with the Gwinnett County Police Department, together, we are able to hold alcohol retailers accountable and reduce the rate at which youth under 21 purchase alcohol.

Every quarter, the Gwinnett County Police Department conducts routine compliance check sweeps in unincorporated Gwinnett County. Compliance checks make sure that alcohol establishments and their employees are properly checking IDs of anyone who is buying and/or being served alcohol, preventing sales of alcohol to those under 21. When alcohol retailers are in compliance, it reduces access to alcohol and serves as a reminder to adults that providing alcohol to underage youth is illegal.

To conduct the compliance checks, youth under 21 serve as decoys and order an alcoholic drink at a restaurant or attempt to buy alcohol at a licensed store. In the past three months, July-September, 11 establishments were checked in Duluth. The compliance rate during this time was 82%, which means that 2 out of 11 retailers sold alcohol to the underage decoy.

GUIDE wants to THANK all of the alcohol retailers that did NOT sell alcohol to the underage decoy:

Shell Food Mart, 1515 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth 30096

Chevron Food Mart, 3720 Club Drive, Duluth 30096

Hop in 201/Texaco, 2920 Old Norcross Rd, Duluth 30096

PUBLIX #505, 1625 Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth 30096

Shell Food Mart, 1515 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth 30096

Shell Gas Station, 3841 Satellite Blvd, #512, Duluth 30096

Food Mart, 3083 Breckinridge Blvd, Duluth 30096

Chevron Food Mart, 1843 Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth 30096

Bahama Breeze #3006, 3590 Breckinridge Blvd, Duluth 30096

It is their commitment to training of their employees and their policies that prevented the underage sales of alcohol.

We applaud YOU. Keep up the great work!

GUIDE, Inc. (Gwinnett United in Drug Education) and Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human services collaborate with Gwinnett County Police Department in these prevention activities because we care about young people in our community and want to keep them safe and healthy.

GUIDE, Inc. is a substance abuse prevention agency serving Gwinnett County since 1986. To find out more about us, please connect with us at guideinc.org.